Let’s talk about having a savings account.

Money is a topic that makes people have emotions across the entire spectrum.  For me, I love talking about money, saving money, and tracking spending.

…But I also love to spend money on traveling.

I blame my dad for both of those.

Growing up, talking about money was completely normal in my house. My dad helped me open my first credit union account when I was 7, and I would proudly deposit money every Friday (my smallest deposit was 11 cents.  It was a big day).

I distinctly remember a conversation we had when I was five years old – my dad said that he wanted to take us on a family vacation to Europe and wanted to start saving… For the next three years.

We all worked to prepare for the trip (I contributed $15 for my well-thought-out souvenirs, obvs), and I saw how hard my dad saved for the trip.

It was the trip that changed my life.